Chick-Fil-A makes the news regularly for their standards of excellence and uncompromising values. I have written about them so many times in the past year its amazing, including this one! This time they grabbed headlines because this company keeps the promise to “over-deliver” (see what I did there?).
Chick-Fil-A was closed. The employees opened the door for a couple in desperate need of using the bathroom because the mom was going into labor! (The story would have been way better had it said, “The father was in need of a late night chicken sandwich with extra Polynesian sauce, and while trading in his toy for an ice cream cone, suddenly realized his wife should’ve been driven to the hospital first…”)
Baby born in bathroom stall, dad delivers child, mom is a superhero, on birth certificate says, “Born at Chick-Fil-A”, and I’m sure the hospital charged them in full for the delivery (that happened to my friend when his wife had the baby in the car, even though Hyundai didn’t buy them cars for life!).
The heartwarming part here is that baby is well and not only did this great company and their extraordinary employees help out when the situation was needed, the company also promised to give the baby girl Chick-Fil-A for life, as well as a job, when she turns 14.
I can see it now – pregnant couples lining up outside the doors of Chick-Fil-A on the due date hoping for the same deal!
But in all seriousness, what this company did is called over-delivering on the promise that is their core value of always being helpful, friendly, and ready to give first. This from their own web site:
It is extraordinary when we hear stories of companies over-delivering.
Early January, a lady drags her dead Christmas tree, 1 week after the holiday, into a COSTCO warehouse and stands in the “Returns” line. She is outright abusing the policy all COSTCO members know and appreciate: Return anything, no questions asked.
Brown, dried up, shriveled and dead, needles falling to the floor, the dead Christmas tree she has owned for a month is accepted and returned, and crazy lady gets her money back.
Imagine you’re the COSTCO worker. You know what’s going on here. You know this is insane. But you also understand the promise your employer has made to all loyal customers: Money Back Guaranteed.
What is your mission statement and how do you not only deliver it to the reasonable requests but also keep the promise to over-deliver to the ridiculous ones?
This week I am delivering the closing Keynote Speech for a healthcare software company. They expect me to be good, but certainly not as great as the higher priced options of celebrities and famous name speakers (they informed me I was up against a celebrity who gets $75,000 per speech. Give me that amount and I’ll do the speech and give every audience member a foot massage).
And thus I get to over-deliver on their expectations, my promise is to be the speaker that is easy to work with, has a powerful message, and entertains them unlike any speaker they’ll ever have.
They have no idea what’s about to hit them, and its simply a promise I made a long time ago to always over-deliver on what the audience expects.
What are the promises you have made in your business? What makes up your mission statement? How are you over-delivering and winning over customers like Chick-Fil-A and COSTCO? In need of an affordable speaker for your conference that will leave you wiping tears from laughter while delivering a message you never saw coming? I know a guy…
Join me in the My Promise movement and take action to deliver your promise to the unsuspecting customer that so deserve your highest level of commitment.
“A Promise is the highest level of engagement we commit to in any experience”.
~ Jason Hewlett
Jason Hewlett, CSP (Certified Speaking Professional), CPAE Speaker Hall of Fame, Keynote Speaker for the largest corporate events in the world. His primary message, The Promise, is essential for Leadership, Management, Sales, Marketing, Direct-Sales Companies, and is a combination of engagement and entertainment meets inspiration. Jason has even received standing ovations from IT guys. He has been acknowledged as life-changing by Conference Attendees, C-Level Executives and Hollywood Elite. jasonhewlett.com
Please click here to learn about how Jason Hewlett, Speaker Hall of Fame, introduces the opportunity for you, or someone you love, to have the gift of learning how to create a Career From the Stage and begin moving toward fulfilling a lifelong dream as a full-time speaker, performer, or entertainer.